


Magic of the Heart

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (i know magic is already in canon but it's commonplace here), Alternate Universe - Magic, Apologies, Asgard is just a small town on Earth, Gen, Loki runs a magic shop, M/M, Misunderstandings, Thor Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has A Heart, reporters are annoying, the events of Iron Man 1 still happened the same
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 16:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21460867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Loki is a lonely man who decides that he will cast an (illegal) spell of friendship on the next person who walks into his shop. Tony is running from his responsibilities as he continues to deal with the aftermath of everything that happened to him in Afghanistan. What Loki doesn't know is that Tony's arc reactor protects him from the effects of magic, and what Tony doesn't know is that nothing can protect him from the effect of Loki's smile.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 210





	Magic of the Heart

Maybe there were a million different things that could be used to explain why Loki was so lonely, but in the end it didn’t really matter why. All that mattered was that he didn’t have anyone. Well, he had his brother and his work, but that wasn’t enough. Even Loki understood that he needed more than just that.

After he sent away what seemed like the millionth customer that wanted to buy a love potion- despite the fact that all emotion potions and spells were illegal- Loki decided that enough was enough. He would never use a love spell, because that would be taking away the other person’s ability to consent if they were forced to believe that they were in love, but there were other ways to get rid of his loneliness. 

Loki decided that he was going to cast a spell of friendship onto the next person he saw that he didn’t already know, regardless of the legalities of such a thing. He didn’t live in a massive town, though, and many of his customers were regulars, so it took a couple of days for an entirely unfamiliar face to walk through the front doors.

The man strolled around the inside of the shop, looking at everything with dull eyes, and Loki wondered what had made the man feel so much hurt inside. Well, once they were friends Loki would be able to help, and then he wouldn’t have to feel guilty about using the spell in the first place, because both of them would benefit from it.

Loki wasn’t sure how long the man was going to keep browsing for, so he knew that he just needed to get into action now if he wanted to have any chance of success. He muttered all the right words, and as soon as the man came back into view from between the shelves, Loki shot the spell straight at the other man’s heart. 

There was a long pause, and the man blinked a few times in confusion as he glanced down at himself, and then he made his way over to the counter. “Uh, hi. Look, to be perfectly honest I don’t even really believe in magic- well, I mean, I know that it exists, obviously, but I don’t think it’s an unexplainable force, you know? Maybe we haven’t found it yet, but there is a scientific explanation for all of it, you know?” 

Loki stared at the man. “Right…” His spell wouldn’t go into effect until after the man had gone to sleep and woken up, so he wasn’t sure why the man had suddenly come over to chat, and to say that he didn’t believe in magic, of all the ridiculous things in the world to say. “Can I help you find something?”

The man blinked a couple of times, and then shrugged one shoulder. “What do you have that would serve as a good apology gift for a woman who is a gift to the world?”

Loki frowned. “I wouldn’t know.” And then he immediately realized how pathetic that probably sounded, and wished that he could just snatch the words back out of the air before the man could hear them.

Surprisingly, the man just let out a soft chuckle, but it wasn’t mean sounding. “Yeah, she’s pretty one-of-a-kind. I’d be surprised if anyone did know a woman like her.” He sighed, and then took a small step away from the counter. “I had been hoping to find her something unique, but I know she won’t say no to a new bag, or maybe some shoes. Well, it was nice to meet you.” Then he walked away and a moment later there was the sound of the bell ringing over the door as the man left. Loki just stood there, and wondered what had just happened. And he got a strange feeling, deep inside, that he had just set in motion something far beyond his own comprehension.  
,,,

Tony didn’t want to go back to New York, so he’d been dragging his feet the entire trip. Pepper was already going to mad enough about the fact that he’d elected to take a cross country road trip instead of just taking a plane, or one of his suits. But could she really blame him? He had so many bad memories in New York, and on top of that, the place always got intolerably cold. 

Tony reached up to rub at his arc reactor, just like he often did without thinking. Whenever it got too cold out, he could feel the metal housing the reactor bite into his skin painfully, making Tony miss the sun and the sand of California. But in the end Tony was still CEO of Stark Industries, and had a responsibility to all of his employees, and to millions of consumers. So no matter how much he wanted to just turn around and go home, he knew that he needed to keep going forward.

But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy his brief stop in this small town. It was one of those places with houses that looked like they were bordering on historic, and between the lady running the bed and breakfast that Tony was staying in, and the guy in the magic shop, there were clearly a lot of pretty faces around town. 

Tony woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, and realized that it was because he hadn’t had any nightmares. When was the last time he’d gotten a full night’s sleep without any bad dreams waking him up? 

He still wanted to find something interesting to gift to Pepper, so Tony decided to head back to the magic shop. And if the same clerk was at the desk, while, Tony certainly wasn’t going to complain. Of course he’d never flirt with someone working retail because they had no way to escape, but he could still subtly appreciate the view.

Tony found himself almost shocked by the little bounce in his step as he walked down the street. Maybe all he’d needed in his life was a little bit of fresh air. Or maybe there’d been some good vibes in the shop, not that vibes were a real thing, no matter how much Peter and Harley insisted that they were. 

Ah, and Tony’s luck seemed to hold up, because the same guy was standing behind the counter when Tony walked into the shop. He gave a friendly wave before walking over. “So I know I said I’d just stick with one of the typical Pepper presents, but honestly, that woman is a saint for putting up with me for so long, and I’d really like to get her something that shows her what she means to me.” 

The man- his nametag said ‘Loki’- had a strange look on his face. “What kinds of things does she like?”

Tony tilted his head as he thought about it for a moment. “She’s the strongest woman I know. Smart, brave, sweet, kickass. Oh, and she’s a redhead.”

Loki blinked a couple of times, and then sighed. “Just give me a moment. I’m sure I can scrounge up something suitable for your- wife?”

“Personal assistant,” Tony corrected. “Though if she keeps up all the good work, I’m sure that she’s going to have an excellent future as a CEO. Maybe she’ll even be my boss.”

Loki gave him a smile that made him look friendlier than he had a moment ago. “Right. Wait here.” He disappeared into a door behind the counter, and Tony pulled out his phone to play around while he waited; he could have chosen to be a responsible person and check his emails and messages, but instead he opened up a game Peter had forced him to get addicted to.

Loki returned a couple of minutes later with a small wooden box that had some fancy looking design engraved on the lid. He set the box down on the counter and then opened it to reveal a pendant. When Tony leaned in closer for a better look, he couldn’t help looking completely awed by the fact that the inside of the pendant showed a beautiful starry night, with a shooting star that actually moved across the scene.

Tony forgot his manners and picked up the necklace. The main gem was flat and mostly see-through, which meant that there was nowhere to hide any circuits or mechanisms to make the image move. Tony still didn’t really believe in magic, though he couldn’t deny that sometimes he did have to wonder, especially when he was staring at something so incredible. “Oh this is perfect, she’ll love this.” He put the necklace back down into the box and looked up at Loki expectantly. “How much for it?”

For some reason, Loki looked confused to be asked about the price of a product he was selling in his shop. “Uh, ten dollars.” 

Maybe it was just because Tony wasn’t exactly an expert in magic stuff, but he couldn’t help thinking that that was severely underpriced. But it wasn’t his place to argue- haggling was only about bringing the price down, not up. So he pulled out his wallet to grab some money and hand it over. “Thanks. And keep the change- you may have just saved my life.” He took the box and closed it before sliding it into his jacket pocket. Now that his business was out of the way, he really didn’t have any excuse to stick around.

He straightened up and got ready to go, because Tony knew that as much as he wanted to delay the inevitable, he really did need to get home. Just as he turned away from the counter, though, Loki spoke again. “You’re leaving already?”

Tony glanced back, and tried to hide the surprise on his face. “You saying that you want me to stick around?”

That just made Loki shift around, looking very awkward. “Well friends don’t usually leave each other behind so easily,” he grumbled.

There was a few seconds of silence as Tony tried to process that. There was no reason that he and Loki could be friends, considering they’d never even exchanged names or anything. But… Tony really did want an excuse to not head out quite yet, and befriending an attractive guy was one of the least destructive things Tony could do for a distraction. 

So he turned back the rest of the way, and offered one of his most charming grins. “So am I going to learn my new friend’s name, or are you just assuming that I was checking you out enough to see your nametag?” When Loki’s cheeks turned a light pink, Tony wondered if he’d ever be able to get himself to leave.  
,,,

Being friends with Tony was like nothing Loki could have ever imagined. Of course he’d seen other people who were friends, and knew what it looked like when Thor spent time with his friends, but none of that had really prepared Loki to have a real, close friendship of his own. Or maybe it was just that none of that had prepared Loki to be friends with Tony specifically. 

He’d never met anyone who appreciated his pranks, or his humor, or his intelligence. It had been random luck that Tony was the one who Loki had cast his spell on, but it had turned out to be amazing luck for Loki. Tony was brilliant, and easily able to keep up with whatever Loki talked about, and even though he claimed not to believe in magic, he was always eager to learn more. He was funny, and generous, and compassionate, and clever and- well. Loki was glad to have Tony as a friend. And in the moments when Loki noticed certain aspects of Tony’s appearance, or had particularly inappropriate dreams, he would quickly do his best to distract himself, because he would never take advantage of Tony in that way.

Perhaps the strangest thing about his new friendship, though, was that even after several months, Loki still felt like he barely knew anything about Tony at all. Of course he knew all of the important things, like who Tony was as a person, but he didn’t even know Tony’s last name, or where he was from. All he really knew was that Tony had a personal assistant named Pepper who was a force to be reckoned with, and that Tony was trying to delay going somewhere that he didn’t want to go.

But the other details didn’t seem to matter, until Loki turned on the news one day and saw a clip of a press conference from a couple of years ago. There was Tony, sitting at the front of a room full of reporters, one arm in a sling and the other holding a cheeseburger. The caption at the bottom of the screen said ‘Two year anniversary of Tony Stark ending weapons production at Stark Industries’, and Loki wondered how it had somehow never come up in conversation that his Tony was Tony Stark, of all people.

Tony Stark, who had responsibilities and duties and an entire company to run, and Loki had been essentially holding him captive in the small town of Asgard, where he was surely being very stifled from his usual lifestyle. The right thing to do after that revelation would be to release the spell and let Tony go, but Loki couldn’t help being selfish. 

When Tony popped into the shop on his daily visit, carrying slightly greasy paper bags from the diner down the street, Loki didn’t have to force a smile on his face. Something about Tony’s presence just always made Loki effortlessly smile in a way that he never had before. 

Loki closed up the shop so that they wouldn’t be bothered while they ate, and the lunch break passed in silence, which was quite unusual for the two of them. When they were done, Tony balled up his empty paper bag and rolled it around on the counter top for a few seconds before he finally looked up at Loki. “Please don’t freak out, but there’s something I need to be honest with you about. I know about the friendship spell.” Loki’s eyes widened in alarm, and Tony hurried on. “I found out by accident a few days ago, and I- I really need you to lift it. You have to understand that what’s between us isn’t fake, or the cause of some spell. Everything between us is real, because we’re friends.”

Loki stood abruptly and shook his head. “I can’t,” he insisted, though his voice didn’t come out as steady as it normally did. “You can’t ask that of me. You can ask me for anything else in the world, but I cannot give you that. I would lose you the moment the spell broke.”

Tony shook his head, looking frustrated as he stood as well. “No you wouldn’t. Don’t be so stubborn about this, Loki. I need you to lift the spell because I- I love you. I’m in love with you!” He looked as shocked as Loki felt by the declaration, but he continued talking. “The list of people I’ve ever said that to is very, very small, so that’s how you know that I mean it. If you lift the spell then you’ll never have any reason to doubt my feelings. Please, Loki.”

It felt as though a dagger had been pierced right into Loki’s heart as Tony spoke. A moment ago, Loki had been ready to pull out every argument he had as to why the spell shouldn’t be lifted, but now he knew that he had to remove it. Of course he knew that it was wrong to manipulate anyone’s feelings at all- there was a reason that those kinds of spells were illegal- but Loki had been willing to risk it for a real friend. He couldn’t let things get out of hand, though. Tony had just said the one thing that guaranteed Loki would obey, even if he didn’t realize it. Because there was no way that Loki would let Tony believe himself to be in love when it was all fake, just the product of a spell.

Loki crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw as he spoke in the most neutral voice he could manage. “Very well. I shall lift the spell. When you next wake up, it will be gone. If you wish to go to the police at that time, feel free to do so.”

Tony smiled softly, and reached out to touch Loki’s arm, though he pulled away when Loki flinched from the touch. “I swear to you that it’s all real, Loki. Promise me that you won’t go anywhere. That you’ll still be here in the morning so that you can understand what I’m saying. Please, Loki, promise.”

And of course there was nothing Loki wouldn’t give when Tony looked at him in that particular way of his with those beautiful brown eyes. “I promise,” he murmured. 

Tony nodded in satisfaction, and then left a few minutes later when it became clear that Loki was in no mood for conversation. As soon as Tony was gone from the shop, Loki whispered the words that would break the spell, and he left the closed sign on the front door as he headed upstairs to his apartment to pack his things. As much as he knew he deserved punishment for what he’d done, he couldn’t bear the thought of facing Tony in the morning, and seeing how angry and violated he felt. So Loki was going to break his promise, though he was sure that Tony wouldn’t hold him to it once he realized that he’d never cared about Loki at all.  
,,,

When Tony woke up in the morning, he felt exactly the same as he had the night before, just like he knew that he would. He reached up to tap lightly at the arc reactor in his chest. Ever since he’d made it and put it in, he’d found himself immune to the effects of so-called magic. 

He’d figured out pretty quickly what Loki had tried to do, and while Tony had felt some pity for the man, he’d also felt like Loki understood him in a way that no one else did, and Tony was unwilling to give that up. So he’d decided to play along, and be Loki’s friend. He gave Pepper a very brief summary of the situation, and in the end they made a deal that involved him doing all his paperwork on time and faxing it to her, and she would let him stay put and let the media know that he was alive and well. 

And then a few days ago, it had suddenly hit Tony that he was in love. Not only was Loki hot, but he was also smart and witty and fun to be around, and even though Tony didn’t give his heart up easily, having long ago learned his lesson about doing that, he knew that he had it bad for Loki.

But he also knew that Loki wouldn’t believe him, and Tony’s idea of playing along with the whole spell thing had come back to bite him. He’d called Pepper to share the entire story, and Pepper had been the one to suggest that he ask Loki to remove the spell. Tony thanked Pepper a million times for the suggestion and swore to buy her something nice. 

And now that Loki had ‘removed’ the spell, Tony would be able to confess his feelings again, and this time Loki would believe him. Tony rushed to shower and get dressed, and all but ran to the magic shop. He burst in through the open door, but came to an abrupt halt when he saw Thor sitting behind the counter instead of Loki. 

Tony frowned as he slowly made his way over. “Where’s your brother?” There was already a sinking feeling in the pit of Tony’s stomach.

Thor gave Tony a sympathetic look. “He said that he needed to leave, and asked me to run the shop for him while he’s gone. Plenty of magic items stocked up so I won’t have to worry about that. He also told me that he could not tell me his intended destination so that I would not be able to tell the police. You know my brother better than anyone, Tony. What has he done?”

Tony clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried not to cry. Loki had promised that he’d wait, but he had broken the promise. When Tony had first settled in Asgard, several people had warned him that he shouldn’t spend so much time around Loki because Loki was unreliable and a known liar. But Tony had disregarded the ‘friendly advice’ because he knew that so many people probably said the same things about him, and it didn’t mean anything when it came from people who didn’t really know him. But now they’d all been proven right, and Tony had to bite back the urge to just scream. 

Maybe it was finally time for him to return to New York. He’d had a nice vacation, but it was over now, and there was nothing left in Asgard for him to stay for.  
,,,

Being on the run was pretty easy for anyone as accomplished at magic as Loki was, but he was pretty sure that it was it was made easier by the fact that no one was looking for him. Loki had been very on edge the first couple of days after he’d fled like a coward, but nothing had happened. His ID wasn’t flagged at the motel he stopped at, and he didn’t need to use his magic to escape any police officers. He could only conclude that Tony hadn’t reported him to the police after all, even though it would have been well within his right to do so. 

Loki had no idea what he was doing, but he knew that there was no point in being on the run when he wasn’t being chased by anyone, so he ended up returning home after just a week. He couldn’t even muster up the energy to get annoyed by the fact that Thor had rearranged the inside of the shop without asking permission, and instead just gave his brother a rare hug before going upstairs to unpack his things.

Thor followed him up, and knocked on the doorframe to Loki’s bedroom. “Have you seen the news, Loki? It would seem that our friend Tony is more than just an average businessman.” He hesitated for a moment, which caught Loki’s attention immediately because he had never known Thor to be anything but blunt and brash. “He misses you,” Thor told him in a gentle voice.

“You don’t know that,” Loki snapped before turning back to his bag.

A moment later, he felt one of Thor’s hands on his shoulder. “I do, though. Everyone in the world does, though I’m sure that most don’t understand what he meant. Just look up the most recent news involving Tony Stark, and you’ll see what I mean.” He paused again before adding, “I wish you the best of luck, brother. I want only for you to be happy.”

Then he left, footsteps surprisingly light for such a big guy, and Loki went through the pretense of unpacking everything before he let himself go over to the computer to look up news about Tony Stark. The first several results were articles that all had similar titles about how Tony Stark had a heart after all, because he was in love. 

Loki frowned as he clicked on one of the links that led to a video, and it showed Tony at a press conference. He had his sunglasses on, and Loki knew that Tony only wore them when he was trying to hide how much he was feeling. “_So as many of you are probably aware, I have been on a bit of a vacation these past few months. For those worried about how irresponsible that makes me, you can rest assured that I was doing my work everyday, completely and one-hundred percent willingly, not forced into it by any personal assistant with scarily sharp heels.” He grinned, and then cleared his throat. “Anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know that I’m back in New York- everyone._” He stared pointedly at the camera, and even with the sunglasses on, Loki got the strange feeling that Tony was somehow staring right into his soul. “_I’ve been working on a few things during my vacation, and one of them is a handy little device that negates the effects of magic. I’ve had one such device for a while now, which means that nobody could use magic that would directly affect me. I hope that my enemies and my friends can fully appreciate that fact._”

There was a barrage of questions from the reporters about how the device worked, and how much it cost to make, and where and when it would be distributed, but Tony didn’t answer while everyone spoke over each other. Finally, one reporter shouted out and somehow managed to be heard clearly over the crowd. “_Mr. Stark! Is it true that you went on such a long vacation because you were with a secret lover?_”

From the way Tony’s eyebrows rose up over the rim of his sunglasses, Loki knew that Tony’s eyes must’ve widened in surprise for a moment. Then there was an almost sad look on his face that surely all of the gathered press could clearly see. “_I wouldn’t use the word ‘lover’. We were very close friends. But my vacation ended before I got the chance to tell them how I feel. I’m not sure they’ll ever know._”

“_Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Are you saying ‘them’ because your lover is nonbinary?_”

“_Mr. Stark, do you believe in love at first sight?_”

“_How long have you known them?_”

“_How long have you been working on the anti-magic device?_”

“_Do you have anything against those who use magic?_”

“_Who is your lover?_”

“_Is it true that you are in a relationship with your assistant?_”

“_What kind of underwear do you wear on a first date?_”

“_Where was your bodyguard while you were on vacation?_”

Loki paused the video when it became clear that Tony wasn’t going to answer any more questions. Unfortunately, the screen paused on a perfectly clear image of Tony staring at the crowd, a sad frown twisted across his face artfully enough that the idiotic reporters might actually believe him to be smiling at them. 

Then he sank down into the nearest chair as he realized what this meant. If Tony was truly immune to magical interference, and had been for ‘a while now’, then did that mean… everything Tony had told him was the truth? Tony was really in love with Loki? And Loki had just run away like a complete idiot.

Well he wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. If there was even the slightest chance that Loki hadn’t given Tony reason to hate him for all of eternity, then Loki was going to do everything in his power to apologize, and maybe say out loud the words that had been on the tip of his tongue since nearly the beginning of his friendship with Tony.  
,,,

Tony was in the middle of tinkering when Jarvis interrupted him to let him know that, “Sir, there is an intruder in your lab.”

Tony looked up in confusion, thinking that maybe his AI was suffering from some kind of glitch, only to see Loki standing shockingly close to him. Tony’s eyes widened, and then he crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“It has come to my attention that I may have made certain… assumptions in regard to our relationship.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “You promised that you would wait for me,” he reminded. “And then you just left. What kind of assumptions do you think that left me to make?”

Loki gulped once, and it occurred to Tony that it was so rare to ever see Loki looking nervous. In fact, he hadn’t seen Loki look uncertain about anything since the beginning of their friendship, and now that he thought about it, that was probably only because Loki felt some level of guilt for using an illegal spell on Tony. Or trying to use one, anyways.

Loki nodded once. “I understand that you must be angry with me,” he said slowly.

Tony shook his head, even though it didn’t seem like Loki had finished his thought yet. He let out a sigh, and tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling. He wished he had his sunglasses on him, because Loki had gotten far too good at reading all of Tony’s thoughts just from his face. “I’m not angry. I’m-” he cut himself off, and then thought about all the times his friends had told him that he needed to talk about his feelings at least sometimes. “I’m sad. I thought that our friendship was important to you, but you didn’t even keep your promise to me.”

There was silence for a moment before Loki softly asked, “Why did you not tell me sooner that my spell had failed to work on you?”

Tony shrugged. “I needed a break from my life, and at first you were just an easy excuse. And then I worried that you would foolishly end our friendship if you knew that I really meant everything I said. You are quite capable of being that stupid sometimes.”

Loki snorted. “Yes, I suppose I am.” There was another minute of silence, and then Loki took a couple of cautious steps forward, until he was right in Tony’s face. Somehow, despite everything Tony had been through, he didn’t feel threatened or anxious when Loki was looming over him like that. “I am sorry, Tony. For making you sad. It was never my intention, I swear it. Do you think that it would be possible for you to ever forgive me?”

As if Tony hadn’t forgiven Loki almost immediately. He found it impossible not to, when he was so in love. But he didn’t want to give away all of the cards in his hand (even if he technically already had confessed his feelings to Loki). “Why are you here? Why are you apologizing? You could just stay in Asgard for the rest of your life and never have to worry about seeing me again.”

He wasn’t even startled when Loki reached out to very gently take hold of the sides of Tony’s arms. “I cannot stand the thought of going the rest of my life without ever seeing you again. I never wanted to take advantage of you, so I could not tell you when I thought you were under my spell, but I- I love you too. I’m in love with you, too.” 

Tony’s eyes widened, and then he couldn’t resist the urge to rise to his tiptoes in order to give Loki a kiss on the lips, which was eagerly returned. He pulled away breathlessly, and looked up at Loki. He searched Loki’s face, but all he could see was the truth written across those fine features. “Swear to me that you won’t break any more promises.”

Loki nodded once. “I swear not to break any more promises… to you at least.” Then he offered Tony a shark-like grin. “Now, I believe that there was one very important question in that interview that you never answered: What kind of underwear do you wear on a first date?”

Tony let out a startled laugh at the question, and then met Loki’s grin with one of his own. “Ask me on a date and maybe you’ll find out.” When Loki’s cheeks flushed pink, Tony couldn’t help feeling smug, and he had never been more grateful for the fact that he’d taken a detour into a tiny town with nothing in it. Well, nothing other than the most wonderful man Tony had ever met. He could feel it as his smile softened into something sappier, but he didn’t care. He knew that he was safe here with Loki.


End file.
